Home SPORTS Pep Guardiola Playfully Questions Arsenal's Title Chances Without Heavy Spending

Pep Guardiola Playfully Questions Arsenal's Title Chances Without Heavy Spending

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Pep Guardiola
Guardiola praises Arsenal's progress under Mikel Arteta ahead of crucial match


Pep Guardiola's throws playful dig at Arsenal and Liverpool's transfer spending ahead of the crucial Premier League match. Read more.


“The only thing I want to say to my friend Mikel Arteta is if he wins the title it will just be because of spending...”


Pep Guardiola believes it's too early to be talking about the title race, emphasizing that it's only the fifth game of the season. “It's the fifth game. It will be the fifth game. Come on,” he said, downplaying the significance of the match in the grand scheme of the season. Guardiola's Manchester City will face fellow title challengers Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium after they defeated Manchester United 3-0 last weekend, with both teams looking to secure crucial points in their pursuit of league leaders Liverpool.


Both Arsenal and Manchester City enter the game after wins in midweek against Napoli and Athletic Club and will hope to snatch a crucial three points as each team chase down league leaders Liverpool, who are perched at the top of the table. 


Guardiola first spoke on the importance of Sunday's match and commented on how it is too early to be speaking on the title race. 


“It's the fifth game. It will be the fifth game. Come on,” he said


“When I arrived here, Brian Kidd told me Sir Alex Ferguson said that in the Premier League, you have to stay close to the top four up to Boxing Day. And after that, you can think about it. 


“Last season, after Boxing Day, we were in another country... We'll see what happens. There are many games. 


“For experience, in the six Premier League wins, I think in four or five, we were behind Liverpool or Arsenal in December, January. And at the end, we won it.


“To see the team going up, that is my concern right now. See the team make a step forward every day. We're not going to win the Premier League on Sunday. We're not going to lose the Premier League on Sunday.”





Rodri's Fitness Update

Manchester City's manager Pep Guardiola has raised concerns about Rodri's fitness, stating that the Ballon d'Or winner is still recovering and asked whether he's fit enough to play three games a week.


“We see day by day... Yesterday, for example, (in) the training session, he didn’t feel comfortable, he did not feel good, but said ‘No, no, I'll be fine tomorrow’ and played extraordinary, like Rodri is.

“And with him on the pitch, we feel more comfortable. But, of course, after an injury, you have to be alert, and we will decide on Sunday how he does feel.”


Guardiola's Reflection on Arsenal's 5-1 Win

Pep Guardiola, Manchester City's Spanish head coach, has spoken about the team's 5-1 loss to Arsenal last season. The match, which took place on February 2, 2025, saw Arsenal dominate City at the Emirates Stadium. Guardiola's comments come ahead of their upcoming Premier League match, where City will look to bounce back from their previous defeat. Mikel Arteta, Arsenal's manager, expects his team to learn from Myles Lewis-Skelly's provocative celebration against Erling Haaland, which added fuel to the rivalry between the two teams.




“The game last season we started like many times last season, and after we were a lot of the time pretty good, considering how it was last season, and the last 15-20 minutes were a disaster. We forgot to do what we had to do and after that it was easy for Arsenal.


“Hopefully, this season we can make a few more challenges because Mikel Arteta is an extraordinary manager and they increased the squad for four or five transfer windows. So it is an unbelievable squad and an unbelievable team, it is one of the toughest opponents you can find now in Europe and we try to compete.


“I want to compete to be a better team than we were last season, especially in the last 20-25 minutes.”


Pep Guardiola jokingly attributed Arsenal's potential Premier League title win to their substantial spending, rather than their quality or hard work. “The only thing I want to say to my friend Mikel Arteta is if he wins the title it will just be because of spending, not because he worked a lot or his players,” Guardiola said with a tongue-in-cheek tone. He drew parallels with Liverpool, saying, “If Arne [Slot] wins again, it will be because he spent a lot of money, right? Because it's not just Man City that [spends], right?”



Guardiola emphasized that every club has the freedom to spend as they wish, and Arsenal's significant investment has helped them reach a top level. “For many, many years, every club can do whatever they want... They spent what they believe they can to compete against the best teams in the Premier League and Europe, and they've reached that level,” he said. Arsenal's close-season spending exceeded £250 million, while Liverpool invested over £400 million, including £100 million each on Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak.




Guardiola praised Arsenal's progress under Mikel Arteta, saying they've become a solid team through steady improvement. “Step by step, window by window, Arsenal keep getting better... They're the most solid team; they don't make mistakes at the back, and they have pace up front and set pieces with Nico Jover,” he noted. The match between Manchester City and Arsenal is scheduled for Sunday, September 22, 2025, at the Emirates Stadium.





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